The present invention relates to a machine for making and dispensing liquid, semi-liquid and/or semi-solid food products, such as for example soft ice cream and the like.
In particular, the present invention relates to machines for making ice cream in which the basic product for making the ice cream is contained in sealed containers made with soft plastic material enclosed in cardboard boxes, commonly known under the name “Bag in Box”.
Machines for making and dispensing ice creams of this type comprise a supporting frame at the top of which is an operating unit for making and dispensing ice cream.
The operating unit comprises a cooling cylinder, commonly called ice cream machine, in which the basic product is processed, which, once ready, may be extracted by a dispensing tap usually located on the front part of the machine frame.
These machines also comprise a pump for sucking the basic product from the sealed container, and the pump inputs the basic product into the ice cream machine through a suction tube.
A first drawback of machines of this type derives from the fact that the suction pump has a pulsed type of operation and as a result, is not capable of ensuring a continuous delivery flow rate. Furthermore, there is the drawback of exerting a mechanical action on the food fluid resulting in potential deterioration of the basic product.
A further drawback of these machines is associated with the fact that the basic product consists of a food mixture, for example milk-based, which perishes easily and consequently may quickly result in the formation of microbial and bacterial contamination, in particular at the parts which are directly in contact with the basic product.
For example, if the suction tube is considered, which normally has a needle or tip for perforating the container at the connecting end with the sealed container, during the change of an emptied container, the needle comes into contact with air and the surrounding ambient, resulting in possible contamination of bacterial nature, with the risk of contaminating the basic product in the successive container.
These machines are therefore subjected to frequent checks and preventive maintenance to ensure perfect hygienic conditions are kept along the entire food circuit mentioned. However, interventions of this type are not capable of ensuring the complete hygienic aspect of the product.
Although methods exist for estimating the number of colonies in a bacterial population, these methods require laboratory analyses, high costs, very long times, and they are only applied to perform random checks, for example in the dairy sector.